Mental Health and Addiction
Geodon, generic name Ziprasodone, prescribed for symptoms of Schizophrenia. Other meds also prescribed to me for same:Seroquel XR, Zyprexa, Latuda.
Inside Hollywood Mental Health: Entrance, waiting room, Dr.'s office.
323-769-6100
1224 Vine St., Hollywood, 90038
In previous blogs about recovery life, I have written about MediCal and its recent impact on drug and alcohol treatment centers.
A little over 20 years ago, I began to suffer from what are called AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS. In common terms, this means that I began to hear things or imagine things in my mind that weren't there, and didn't seem to come from me.
It's tricky to explain. It's like having extra foreign thoughts that don't sound like your own normal thoughts, and even in a different sounding voice than your own.
This is more common than you think.
There are popular blogs about it in the NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) website right now; and there is extensive info on this in Wikipedia or in any search engine search.
Type in Schizophrenia, or Schizo-affective Disorder, or Auditory Hallucination, and you will find info.
NAMI: NAMI.org
Facebook: NAMI Mental Health Service
Doctors at mental health screenings have asked me this in the past:
"Do you hear or see things that aren't there?"
Some go as far as ask:
"Do you hear voices?"
And add:
"Do the voices tell you to hurt yourself or to hurt others?"
20 years ago I did not see a doctor, but today I do. I see a psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at Hollywood Mental Health, photographed above with info.
I only began seeing this doctor (I call my psych) in 2017.
What motivated me to seek treatment for these "Extra Thoughts," that I call them, was my experience at a drug and alcohol treatment center called Royal Palms in LA.
I didn't know anything about rehab when I decided to try it, and didn't consider how common it could be to find many people with mental disorders there.
Then, I learned that alcoholism and drug addiction is considered a mental disorder and so it is common at a rehab to learn about the disease of addiction as described and explained by different points of view.
The most common is the 12-step point of view that originated in Alcoholics Anonymous in the late 1930's.
Later, alcoholism and other addictions became acknowledged in the medical field more commonly as detox centers and treatment centers became more popular.
Hallucinations of all kinds are parts of the effects of all drugs, including alcohol; and the effects of the detoxification process when coming off many drugs.
Impaired judgement and reaction happens when people drink and use, especially excessively.
But there are long term effects that many people who have used drugs may suffer from, because drugs attack the nervous system and cause damages to brain order and functions.
The voices in people's heads, or Auditory hallucinations, or racing thoughts, reoccurring thoughts, obsessive thoughts, etc., can be common among patients at rehabs.
Also common are mood disorders such as depression, mania, violence, and more.
Many patients who I met at several treatment centers were dually diagnosed by psychiatric doctors and nurse practitioners in Mental Health Centers with addiction, or alcoholism, as well as Depression, or Anxiety, or forms of Schizophrenia.
A Dual diagnosis is common at a rehab.
In some cases, a rehab opens the possibility for discussions and support for mental disorders.
Just knowing that I was not the only person who suffered from mental and mood problems motivated me to see a doctor.
In late 2017, I researched local psychiatrists in the area that I was in, which was near downtown LA and Hollywood, who were covered by MediCal insurance.
I found a doctor on Hollywood Blvd nearby, and to my surprise, he did not screen me or even ask many questions. He had a record of me taking Zoloft for depression once while I was detoxing at a hospital, and within minutes, he prescribed me with Seraquel for the extra thoughts, and an increased dose of Zoloft, and I was out the door.
The Zoloft made me feel sped up and uncomfortable. I couldn't get used to it and it made me feel crazy so I stopped taking it and made another appointment. The Seraquel did not have any effect on the extra thoughts.
I was angry when I saw the psych again and he simply said, "If you don't want to take the Zoloft, don't take it."
And we discontinued the pill.
Soon, the office told me that he was moving to Glendale, which was far away, so I found a new doctor.
At Royal Palms, I had a roommate who also has extra thoughts, and sometimes we talked about these voices in our heads. When we did compare notes, we usually joked about it, and we shared some similarities, but in the end, both of us just wanted them gone.
He was on heavy medication and slept a lot. Many patients at Royal Palms were heavily medicated and I told myself that I didn't want that for myself.
One particular patient who was very heavily medicated needed me to escort him to Hollywood Mental Health one day, so I took him; and despite the neighborhood and location that I thought was not so safe because of many homeless camps nearby, once inside, the center was fine.
So I made an appointment with Hollywood Mental Health and it was the best decision I could have made for my own battle with my symptoms.
At my first appointment, I was pre-screened for some time and I felt like they were doing a proper job at getting to know what was going on with me.
At my second appointment I met my psych, Doreen D., who has stuck with me and done a professional and comfortable and excellent job at helping me as best as she can.
I will post more about mental health, especially the effects that Medi Cal has on it today since 2017's new regulations and practices that arose from the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. "Obamacare."
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